TRIBUTES flooded in from around the country last night for North-East football manager Brian Clough, who died at the age of 69.

The European Cup-winning boss had members of his family at his bedside when he died at Derby City Hospital yesterday after a battle against stomach cancer.

Clough, described by many football fans as "the best manager England never had", was born into a working-class family on Teesside, on March 21 1935, and became a professional footballer with his local club, Middlesbrough, at the age of 17.

The striker made his League debut after three years of trying to break into the first team - and never looked back.

During his career at Ayresome Park, he was leading scorer for three successive seasons and eventually netted 204 goals in 222 games.

In 1959, he won his only two England caps, and two years later, North-East rivals Sunderland paid £45,000 to take him to Roker Park.

He went on to score 63 goals in 74 appearances for the Wearside club, before his career was cut short by a knee injury sustained against Bury, on Boxing Day 1962.

Clough stayed in the North-East to cut his teeth as a manager, becoming boss at Fourth Division Hartlepool United at the age of 30, and two years later, after putting Pool on track to promotion, he became manager of Derby County, guiding them in 1969 to the old Division Two championship and the club's first Division One title in 1972.

He joined Nottingham Forest in January 1975, brought First Division football to the City Ground for the 1977-78 season, and made a remarkable start in the top-flight with the League Cup and Division One title.

Between November 26 1977 and December 9 1978, his Forest side went 42 games unbeaten in the old Division One - a record not equalled until last month by Arsene Wenger's Arsenal side.

In February 1979, Forest's crowning glory was to defeat Swedish side Malmo 1-0 and win the European Cup - and to prove the success was no fluke, the club retained the title the following year, beating Hamburg 1-0.

Clough took Forest to further glory, including the League Cup in 1989 and 1990, but the FA Cup eluded him, losing to Tottenham in 1991, the same year he was awarded the OBE.

Throughout his trophy-laden years there were calls from supporters and pundits to give Clough football's top job - managing England.

But it may have been precisely his qualities - a no-nonsense northerner with exacting standards and a supreme confidence in his own abilities - that robbed him of the chance.

Never a fan of the establishment - whether directors or what he called the "grey suits" of the Football Association - the man dubbed Old Big 'Ed once said: "I'm sure the England selectors thought if they took me on and gave me the job, then I would want to run the show.

"They were shrewd because that is exactly what I would have done."

In later years, Clough's increasingly haggard appearance, ruddy cheeks and sometimes slurred speech led to speculation about his health.

In 2002, he revealed what had long been suspected: that heavy drinking was taking its toll.

He had a liver transplant in January 2003, after doctors told him that alcohol had caused so much damage, he had only two months to live.

Clough once said he wanted "no epitaphs of profound history and all that type of thing" when he died, but instead to be known as someone who "contributed".

"I would hope they would say that, and I would hope somebody liked me."

Last night, the tributes poured in from fans, former players, football executives and public figures on Teesside and Wearside.

Professor Graham Henderson, vice-chancellor of the University of Teesside, where Clough received an honorary degree last year, said last night: "Brian Clough was a Teesside legend. All of us at the university will never forget the emotion in Middlesbrough Town Hall as he received his honorary doctor of science degree last November."

Ashok Kumar, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, said: "He was never an establishment figure, and that is something I really admired him for.

"His passing brings an end to a whole football era."

Clough was married to Barbara and the couple had children Libby, Simon and Nigel, an England international who played under his father at Forest.

Details of a private family funeral and a memorial service will be announced soon.